Who is it for?

I was stuck in traffic today and a song came on in my car about revival. I wondered whether the people crossing the road in front of me would have a clue about what the song was about. Sometimes as Christians we use language that none Christians (and some Christians) can not understand. We may as well be talking in a different language! Some examples I can think of are Predestination, Justification, “Priesthood of all believers”. In The Salvation Army we can be just as bad. We tend to abbreviate things and I’ve even had people who have been in the SA all their life ask me what some mean and if I’m honest I don’t always know the answer. I was talking to someone today who has been attending our church for around 2 years now and they didn’t know that Gordon, Kate, and Bram are ministers even though they lead the meetings (services) most Sundays. I think he was really surprised and was asking questions like “so can they conduct weddings and things?”

I think that we should make the Christian message more understandable to none Christians. This isn’t a new idea; after all, that is why the King James Version of the Bible was translated into English. Jesus even spoke in the language of the people of His time, although He did speak in parables and things sometimes.